


Sugar, Spice, Everything Nice

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Alternate Universe- Werewolves, Bake Sales, Baker Derek, Bakeries, Fluff, Humor, Kids, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Rivalry, Single Parent Stiles Stilinski, Werewolves are still a thing, Witch Stiles Stilinski, Writer Stiles, minor Darsus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7176377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years ago Stiles Stilinski walked into Straight From Hale Bakery to get a birthday cake for his daughter</p><p>Now, through a series of stupid events, he's sitting at a bake sale table next to his apparent longtime freind (who he's completely in love with) Derek Hale, trying to sell cookies to win his daughter's class a pizza party- and also to defeat the not-exactly-evil Atlanta Five Bakery that the Hales have some strange vicious rivalry with, who just so happens to be trying to win a pizza party for THEIR daughter too</p><p>Also: Werewolves, levitating apple juice, and covert operations via Lydia Martin</p><p>Seriously what in the hell is his life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sugar, Spice, Everything Nice

**Author's Note:**

> *sobs quietly*
> 
> The beast
> 
> The beast is finished
> 
> You guys I didn't go off the radar I've just been writing THIS TURKEY for a month!! It started out SO SIMPLY with Derek and Daryl walking their dogs together (and somehow that didn't even make it in the fic?!) and Stiles getting a cake from Derek for his daughter's birthday AND IT TURNED INTO THE BEAST FROM HELL I thought I'd never finish it, it's 5:30 A.M. and I'm posting it just so I can get it out of my way OH MY GOD, also as you can see my Walking Dead obsession *hasn't* simmered down with time apparently, I've been watching this show since the night it first aired and freaking Negan had to go and up my anxiety levels so much that I'm writing fics to cope, THANK YOU NEGAN YOU SORE PIMPLE
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this though, really, it's taken me a month, I really hope SOMEONE enjoys this at some point

Straight From Hale Bakery was their last hope, to be quite honest

At three years old Stiles wanted his daughter to have the birthday cake of her dreams, especially with it being the first birthday she had with him

And he didn't understand why it was so HARD for people to do a Hotel Transylvania cake

Even if it WAS German Chocolate....

He had gone to no less than twelve places already and now here he was at lucky number thirteen with nothing but a prayer to go by

The bell above the door rang and Stiles did everything he could to keep himself together as he entered the little family run bakery, walking up to the counter and finding himself staring at a beautifull man

Ink black hair, a thick, full beard, and eyes full of greens and golds and even little specks of copper

"Can I help you?" the baker asked, not seeming very appreciative of the staring

"Um... hi, I've been all over town looking for someone to bake a birthday cake for my daughter and no one seems willing to do it... she wants a Hotel Transylvania cake but.. German Chocolate instead of plain chocolate,"

"That's all? Yeah, I can do that," he shrugged

"Wah-... really!? Wait... how much? Like... what? $80?"

Stiles wasn't exaggerating either, he really did see that custom cakes went for close to a hundred bucks in the only two shops who had even heard him out...

"Mmm... I was thinking more in the area of $30? It's a little extra because I'll have to special order the cake toppers for Hotel Tranyslvania if that's ok,"

Was this guy serious?

That was better than Stiles could have ever DREAMED!

"Seriously? You... wow... you're going to order toppers?"

"Well yes, drawing on top of German Chocolate frosting isn't an easy task, not detailed drawings atleast, it'd be one thing to do little bats and spiders and things like that but actual charectors I prefer having a smooth surface for, is that alright?"

"Yeah! Yes, absolutely, that's... that's perfect, that's very much alright," he confirmed

The baker was quiet for a moment, looking through some things under the cash register and pausing as he set a pink slip and a pen on the counter, leaning over and smiling gently at the little girl clinging to Stiles' leg

"Hi there, you must be the birthday girl, can you tell me your name so I can write it on the cake please?"

Stiles looked down at the girl as she clung to him, staring up at the baker nervously

"Go on sweetie," he insisted

"Briar Rose...." she said quietly

"Briar Rose? That's a very pretty name, and what's your daddy's name?"

Briar Rose just bit her lip, ducking behind his leg further

"I'm Stiles, and don't take it personally, she's really shy," he said with a small smile

The baker smiled back, reaching across the counter and holding his hand out

"Derek, and trust me, I know the feeling,"

Stiles smiled brightly, shaking his hand excitedly, he had a feeling this was going to be the start of a beautifull freindship

**Three years later....**

"Heeeeey there's my favorite customers!"

"Hey Laura," Stiles said with a heavy sigh as he walked into the bakery, Briar Rose trailing behind him with slumped shoulders and a sad expression

"What's the matter? Why the long faces?" Laura asked with concern, stepping out from behind the counter and tapping on the door to the kitchen in the back

"Rosie's upset," Stiles muttered back, drawing patterns on the table the two had gone to sit down at

"Obviously, but WHY is she upset?" Laura countered as the kitchen door opened and Derek stepped out, drying his hands on a cloth and tossing it over his shoulder before making his way to the table

"The community center that her music class is at is having a fundraiser, it's a bake sale and whatever class raises the most money gets a pizza party, Rosie REALLY wants that pizza party but there's no way our class is going to win," he sighed

"Why are you so sure about that?" Derek asked with a frown, deciding to ignore the fact that Stiles said "our class" as if he were actually in the class with his daughter

"Because there's a girl in the dance class across from Rosie's who's family owns a bakery,"

"Really? Well maybe you can convince the parents not to participate in the bake sale, it does seem pretty unfair that there will be professional participants," Laura suggested

"I doubt it, I hear her father is really competitive," Stiles sighed, poking at the table as another woman came out from behind the counter, placing a set of cupcakes in front of he and Briar Rose

"Really? Well who's her dad? Maybe we can talk to him," she suggested, sitting down across from them, the bakery was empty for now given it was the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, they could afford a break to talk to their freind

"Hey Cora... I don't know him, but the kid's name is Judy Grimes,"

The table went dead silent and Stiles frowned, eyes narrowing

"What? What's wrong?"

"Judy Grimes... Rick Grimes' daughter?" Laura asked slowly

"I ... don't know? Maybe? I don't know his name,"

"There's only one baker we know named Grimes..." Derek muttered said sourly

"Rick," Cora hissed

"What? What am I missing here?" Stiles frowned, eyes narrowing in frustration

"Rick Grimes owns the Atlanta Five Bakery,"

"Atlanta Five is in direct competition with Straight From Hale," Derek provided

"We've been neck and neck with them for top spot for YEARS!" Laura shouted

"You know what this means don't you?" Cora frowned seriously

"We're participating in that bake sale under Rosie's name, and so help me, we're going to beat Atlanta Five once and for all!" Laura shouted

Stiles frowned, nose wrinkling as he put his cupcake down

"Are you guys REALLY going to use my daughter's fundraiser to get back at your competition?" he asked

"Can we?" Derek asked hopefully

The other man cocked his head, staring down at Briar Rose as she bit into her own cupcake

"Well Princess? Want to help the Hales out?"

Briar Rose licked her lips, staring up at Stiles with determination

"Let's do it!"

 

~+~

 

"Ok, remember what I taught you?" Stiles asked with a small smile

Briar Rose gave a sharp nod

"You must sing your scales and your arpeggios!" she sang excitedly

"That's right," Stiles smiled brightly, kissing her forehead and reluctantly letting go of her little hand as he waved her off to her music class

"I'll see you in an hour!" he called, feeling a pang of hurt when she only barely looked back and waved to him

"She's growing up too fast," he sighed, shaking his head and starting to walk back towards the parkinglot

"I know how that feels," he heard, turning around and staring across at another man, sporting jet black hair and soft pale skin

"You do?" Stiles asked, pausing in his step as the other man caught up to him, he didn't exactly know the other parents in Briar Rose's class well, the bake sale would be the first function his daughter had ever even had and parents in these kinds of classes typically didn't seem to do the meet and greet thing with eachother, that was more for parents whose children went to school together it seemed

Tough luck for Stiles, even though Briar Rose was technically old enough to be in kindergarden he was homeschooling her, thus the music classes- his father's idea of helping her socialize

"Yeah, my son is almost old enough to start kindergarden and my daughter is turning two next month, it's so hard to believe, it feels like just yesterday my wife was telling me she was pregnant for the first time," the newcomer said with a nostalgic sigh

"That's amazing, time really flies huh?" he smiled, holding his hand out politely before offering his name

"I'm Stiles,"

"Glenn, it's nice to meet you," the other man said with a blindingly bright smile, shaking Stiles' hand firmly

"So who's your-"

"DADDY!!"

Stiles didn't even get finished with his question before he heard the telltale scream of Briar Rose as the door to the classroom opened and the sound of little feet pitter-pattering against the floor echoed through the hallway

"I have a necklace emergency!!" she cried

Stiles gave Glenn an apologetic smile and took his hand away

"Sorry, looks like I have a necklace emergency to take care of,"

"Oh believe me I understand," Glenn said with a small smile, clearly having dealt with plenty of "emergencies" of his own

"I'm sure we'll see eachother soon, but it was nice talking to you wile it lasted," Stiles added, waving off the other man and neeling down to greet his daughter

"Yeah, see you soon!" the other said brightly as he headed out of the building

"What happened?" Stiles frowned, neeling down at Briar Rose's feet to get a better look at her necklace

"It broke.." she sniffed, offering the little beaded necklace to him with a pout

"Don't worry, I can fix it," he promised

And thus began the considerably familiar process of fixing one of Briar Rose's things

It wasn't really that she was a clumsy or rough child, things these days just seemed to break for no reason, poor quality probably

He should probably just start carrying tools around with him for easier fixing...

 

~+~

 

"I don't see why you guys are so worried," Stiles stated absently as he took the flashdrive out of his laptop

"You're the best bakery in town- probably in the world, I wouldn't doubt it- what does this Atlanta bunch have that you don't have?"

Laura and Derek glanced at eachother, slowly setting down what they were working on and taking a few steps closer

"You've never been to the Atlanta Five ... have you?" Laura asked slowly

Stiles glanced at her, tilting his head

"No...?"

"Then you wouldn't understand," Derek said quickly, tossing the cleaning rag he was still holding onto his shoulder

"Cora!! You think you can handle the bakery on your own for about an hour?" Laura called

Cora poked her head out from the kitchen, giving a shrug

"I don't see why not, it's two o'clock on a Thursday, not exactly rush hour,"

"Perfect, we'll be right back," Laura insisted, already heading out of the shop and assumingly towards the car

Stiles stared up at Derek in confusion but he just gestured him forward, making the other man sigh as he shut his computer down and hurried to follow after them

 

~+~

 

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Stiles frowned in frustration

"We're sure alright," Laura insisted as she turned down yet another backroad

Stiles had lost count by now of how many they had taken, it felt more like they were in the middle of a maze than just driving towards another bakery

"A5 is in a small part of town near the square, it's almost more like a neighborhood than a business plaza," Derek explained from the front seat

Stiles nodded slowly, glancing out the window and snapping his fingers

"Ohhhh I recognize this place now! I brought Rosie here to do Christmas shopping last year, the bakery is here? It must be pretty nice and homey,"

"It was.... once," Laura confirmed, pulling around the corner and pointing to a large building a few yards away from the parkinglot they were currently sitting in

The building was beautifull with floor to ceiling glass windows, a spacious lobby, and huge letters printing "ATLANTA FIVE BAKERY" above the entrance, far from the boutique-like smaller businesses that made up most of the area

"THIS?" Stiles asked in amazement

"THIS is the bakery?"

"This is the bakery," Laura confirmed

"It's huge... and swanky,"

"See now why we're worried?" Derek sighed

Straight From Hale wasn't exactly small, it was average size for a bakery, maybe a little bigger, it still had the neighborhood run feeling to it, but it was atleast one fourth smaller than the Atlanta Five, maybe even half

"Yeah but... look there's no accounting for taste, they may be fancier but I gurantee you guys are still better bakers," Stiles insisted

"Oh yeah? Go in there and buy something, put your theory to the test,"

Stiles frowned defiantly, eyes narrowed and nose wrinkled

"No way! I'm not giving them a single cent, all of my baked goods money belongs to Straight From Hale!"

"Thanks Stiles, but we'd understand a sample," Laura chuckled

The other man just wrinkled his nose, shaking his head insistingly

"Look, they're fancy, I'll give 'em that, but they aren't going to have all the flashy decorations at a bake sale, it's just going to be down to what tastes good,"

"Yeah, and they taste good," Derek offered

"REALLY good, just their cookies alone could kill a person," Laura added

"Ok first, I don't think that's as much of a compliment as you seem to think it is, and second, I've had your cookies too ok? They're AMAZING, they could kill a person just as easily as anyone's,"

"Not as easily as Carol Peletier's," Laura sighed

"Who?"

"Carol Peletier, their cookie specialist, we don't even HAVE a cookie specialist,"

Stiles was quiet for a moment, lips pursed and nose wrinkled

"I'm confused,"

"Every baker has their specialty, for Laura it's pies, for me it's cake, for Cora it's brownies, they have all of that PLUS a cookie specialist,"

"But I thought there were five of them? Thus, you know, the Atlanta Five? You only listed four,"

"That depends on how you look at it, the fifth member is Rick's son Carl, he's only sixteen though so he can't actually work though, Rick is training him in cupcakes, or so it's rumored anyway, he has atleast two years before he can work at the bakery, provided he doesn't go to college or anything,"

"Oh," he mumbled back

"And those are just the bakers, Rick's wife is the head decorator and she could frost circles around us, they have a really amazing staff that's big and all family and ... it makes our little three person staff look like amateurs, they have book keepers and advertisers and stuff Stiles! ADVERTISERS!"

"Don't say that! The size of a staff doesn't equate for quality, and you guys don't NEED advertisers, you have word of mouth," Stiles insisted

"That's nice of you to say but it sure does help to have the extra support," Laura sighed, starting to back out of the parkinglot

She knew it was almost time for Briar Rose to get out of her music class and they needed to go pick her up, it was better to leave now before they got spotted out here anyway

"Then why don't you just hire more staff? Get advertisers?" Stiles reasoned, leaning back in his seat

"We don't want outsiders, we only want people with the Hale name in on the business, and advertisers are EXPENSIVE... unless, you know, they're family freinds like the A5 have," Derek explained

"It was our mother's dream company, we want to keep it in the family," Laura added

Stiles just nodded, glancing out the window

"Yeah... I can understand that," he muttered

All was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, glancing up at Derek

"So why are they called the Atlanta Five exactly? Seems strange considering they're in California,"

"They used to live in Atlanta, according to what we've heard Rick used to be a sheriff there so Atlanta is important to him,"

"A sheriff? Really? How come he switched to baking?" Stiles asked curiously, after all it seemed like a strange choice for a career move, although he understood it, he had done the same thing when he adopted Briar Rose, he had originally wanted to work in law enforcement but switched to a safer career as a writer when he became a father

"He and his wife wanted to open a bakery, they planned on doing it after Rick was injured in the line of duty and had to quit being a cop, they were planning to move to California for some reason or another but his wife died in childbirth before they could make it, he named the bakery in memory of her," Derek answered

"Oh... guess he couldn't stand putting her name on it then huh?"

"Exactly, he has a special cake called Lori but that's about as far as I think he can handle it, wich is understandable, we can't even name desserts after our parents," Laura added

"No no I totally get it, then did the others follow him from Atlanta? I guess his son did but what about the other three?"

"We don't know, in all honesty we haven't actually talked to them much personally, we kind of have a silent rivalry going,"

"Silent rivalry?"

"Yeah, you know, one of us will see the other in the papper, the other will hear about them from a customer, that sort of thing, we haven't talked that much personally,"

"And yet you call what you have a rivalry," Stiles teased, perking up once he saw the center that Briar Rose's music lessons were held at

"Hey you took a shortcut!"

"Derek is the master of shortcuts," Laura teased

"Works for me," Stiles grinned, eagerly opening the door as soon as Derek parked the car

Having heard the less than enthusiastic story about the origins of the Atlanta Five all he wanted to do was give Briar Rose a big, warm, hug

However, they barely even got out of the car before he was faced with something rather unexpected

Glancing towards the doors, he saw Judith walking out holding onto the hand of a woman- tall, dark skinned with long dreads and a headband

She looked like she was about to go to war

"Who the hell is that?" Stiles breathed

"Michonne, Rick's wife and head decorator," Laura shrugged back

"Holy.... I suddenly feel very unworthy," he muttered

"Yeah, join the crowd," Derek grumbled back, still watching Michonne and Judith for a moment as they headed towards their car

"Come on, we should go get Briar Rose already," Laura insisted, tugging them along into the building to fetch Briar Rose before it got any later

"Daddy!!" the little girl cried as soon as she saw Stiles come around the corner, eagerly leaping up and racing towards him to crash into his legs

"Hey bugaboo!" he smiled, leaning down and picking up his daughter with ease

"Daddy Judy brought cupcakes," she said with a pout

"She did?"

Briar Rose sighed, nodding slowly as she hugged him

"Well don't worry, you can bring cupcakes tommorrow," Derek reasoned

"Really!?" the little girl beamed excitedly

"Sure,"

"You're extending yourself awfully far there aren't you Hale?" Stiles hummed, eyebrows raised

"It's for a good enough cause," Derek reasoned with a shrug

"Sure, if that's what you want to call it, I call it sucking up to the future generation," Stiles teased

Derek just rolled his eyes, but if he wanted to be in Briar Rose's good book... well... who could blame him?

 

~+~

 

"Ok monkey, you're almost done with your apple juice?"

"Yep!" Briar Rose hummed from the table, setting her juice aside and reaching out for another crayon

"Groovy smoothie," Stiles hummed back, turning back towards the stove and pausing when he heard the doorbell ring

He wasn't expecting company... he wasn't sure who that could be...

"Don't touch the stove," he warned, hearing a loud "I know!" being shouted back as he headed out of the kitchen and peered outside, face lighting up with delight

"Derek!"

"I brought cupcakes," Derek said immediately as the door opened, showing Stiles a box of cupcakes just as announced

"Dude... seriously, you didn't have to do that,"

"I know but... I promised Briar Rose," he shrugged, as if that was a perfectly reasonable explanation

"Mm... well come in, I'm making dinner now, do you uh... want to stay? For dinner?" he offered, head tilting and eyes narrowing in confusion at the stunned look on Derek's face

Although Derek clearly wasn't looking at him, he was peering over Stiles' shoulder...

Slowly, Stiles turned around and gasped, frowning deeply as he saw another box of apple juice float out of the fridge

"Briar Rose! What did we say about levitating things unsupervised?"

The box fell to the floor and the little girl glanced up at him, blinking innocently

"Do it...?"

"No, opposite of do it, DON'T do it is what I believe I said,"

Briar Rose pouted, staring up at him cutely and making her father sigh

"Why don't you go upstairs and get your new penguin to show Derek? I don't think he's seen it yet," Stiles encouraged

Briar Rose shrugged, jumping down from the chair she as sitting in and running down the hall

"'Kay!" she shouted as she ran towards the stairs

"I'll be right back!!" she called, stomping gracelessly up the steps

"She's not my blood but I swear to God she somehow inherited my heavy foot... sorry, come on, come in," Stiles insisted, waving Derek forward

The other man was... well... shocked, to say the least, that he was handling his daughter _levitating a juice box_ the way most parents would handle her taking a cookie out of the jar

"I guess you've figured out by now that my little Rosie is a witch, I am too just so we're clear, now I figure it's time for you to let the wolf out of the bag right about now hm?"

"How did you know?" Derek frowned, following him into the house and shutting the door behind them

"It was easy, the store is always closed on full moons, you have lots of little wolf decor that you THINK is subtle, you have heightened senses like being able to hear me muttering from across the room or smell something burning before anyone else?"

Derek shuffled around, a little embarrassed about how clear it seemed to be to the other that he and his sisters were wolves when they had made a real effort to disguise it

"Don't look so sheepish, it's fine, you're among your own here," he noted, walking towards the oven and taking a look at the timer, it would be up in a few seconds anyway, might as well just turn it off and get the cooling tray ready

"Why didn't you tell me?" Derek finally asked

Stiles raised his eyebrows, setting the cooling tray out and turning around

"Why didn't YOU tell ME?"

"I didn't know! You knew we were werewolves, you should have come forward,"

"What was I supposed to do Derek? Walk in one day after three years and go 'So my daughter and I are witches and oh by the way we know you and your sisters are werewolves'?"

Derek's lips pressed tightly together, Stiles had a point... there was really no way to break the big "W"...

"I guess that's a good point," he agreed quietly, glancing at the oven as Stiles opened it and started to fish out a tray of cookies

"Don't worry about it ok? Look, why don't you stay for dinner? It's the least I can do for you making it all the way over here just to give my kid some cupcakes- wich you shouldn't have even done to begin with,"

"It's fine, we usually overbake anyway,"

"Yeah? Me too, you'll have to help me unload some of these cookies," Stiles teased, winking at him

"That won't be a problem," Derek chuckled, peering over his shoulder and tilting his head

"Need any help with anything?" he offered a second later

"I'm fine big guy, just sit down somewhere," Stiles laughed, starting to move the cookies off of the scalding pan and onto the cooling tray

Derek just sighed with reluctance but did as he was told, he knew better than to get between someone and their cookies

"I guess now that you know the truth I should tell you the other thing," Stiles said after a moment, drawing Derek's attention away from the coloring book Briar Rose had been working in

"The other thing?" Derek asked in confusion, tilting his head

"Yeah... why I decided to take Rosie in," he explained, staring down at the tray of cookies

"It's because she's like you... isn't it?" Derek guessed

"Yeah... you got me, my mom was the magic person in our family, she died before she even told me so I grew up as a witch with no one magical around who could help me, I met Rosie's mom when I was seventeen, she was new to the neighborhood and we became fast freinds, she helped me with my magic, and when Rosie was born I was instantly smitten, I loved to babysit her, she was an amazing child and she seemed to enjoy my company... when her mother died and I found out she had no living relatives... I knew I had to take her, because if I didn't she would just end up in the system and... the only thing worse than being raised by a parent who doesn't know about magic, is being raised by TWO parents who have no relation to magic AT ALL... that's why I got my dad to pull some strings and make sure I ended up adopting her,"

"Makes sense, you did the right thing," Derek confirmed, after all if the situation had been in his lap he would have done the same thing, especially if it had been a werewolf child in question

"Right but I mean... you get it right? Why all of this is so important to me? That a pizza party and.. and a charector on a cake... it's more than all that, people like us have it hard and with no mother... with.. me and everything I come with... I HAVE to make the little things count so the big things hurt just a little bit less,"

"Stiles, I get it, really... you don't have to explain it to me," Derek said quietly, glancing up as Stiles set a plate of cookies in front of him

And... well.... Derek was never one to deny cookies....

"I know I know I just... God I feel like I go overboard sometimes, like... like I blow things out of proportion but..."

"Stiles, she's your daughter, people do crazy things for their kids all the time and quite honestly wanting to win her a pizza party isn't that crazy," Derek explained, picking up a cookie and taking a bite out of it

"Yeah? ... Yeah, yeah I'm ... God I'm just frazzled all of a sudden,"

Derek was a little distracted, honestly, he knew he should be paying more attention, he really, really did, but at the moment he was just so... so caught up in the cookies....

They were amazing, better than what he and his sisters could do, hell they might even rival The Atlanta Five's....

"-what I said about horror movies, I never intended for her to take it so ser-"

"Stiles!" Derek shouted suddenly, causing the other man to drop the wooden spoon he had been using

"W-What?" the other squeaked

"Have you tried these cookies?"

"Um.. yeah, why? What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing, that's exactly the point, there's nothing wrong with them, they're amazing,"

Stiles wrinkled his nose in confusion, raising an eyebrow but ultimately shrugging as he bent down to pick up his spoon

"Um... thanks? I appreciate it,"

"No, you don't understand, these are AMAZING," he promised, jumping up and grinning brightly

"Stiles, these could compete with the Atlanta Five's, you could win Briar Rose her pizza party with these,"

"What? Seriously? But... your's are so much better... if your's can't compete-"

"No, trust me, these are better than our's, even if you don't see it,"

Stiles thought for a moment, biting his lip

"But... the bake sale is just a few days away, there's no way I can make enough by then even if they WERE as good as you say..."

Derek smirked, placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder

"Trust me, I can handle that for you,"

~+~

For the next three days Stiles spent nearly all day at the bakery, preparing tray after tray of cookies (well, and trying to learn how to move in a kitchen as huge as the Hales' without disturbing anyone else)

And in the mean time the Hale siblings were getting better and better acquainted with him and his daughter, especially Derek

They already had felt like family freinds for the longest time and personally Derek had always hoped to somehow, one day, be more than that, and now....

Now it was feeling like that could somehow happen... maybe

He hoped...

One thing was for sure though, he and Briar Rose had certainly started spending more time together, he was dropping her off and picking her up for her music classes every day now

Unbelievably as it was, he was actually having a pretty good time with it

Briar Rose was a true treasure to be around, Derek had always liked kids- he had always wanted kids of his own for that matter- but Briar Rose.... he could really understand why Stiles felt so strongly about making sure she was happy, for a little girl who had already experienced so much pain and tragedy she was as positive as a sun beam and she could absolutely light up Derek's day

"Oh! I forgot my jacket!" she said suddenly, already half-way to the car

"Do you know where it is?"

"Uh-huh, in my cubby,"

"Well guess we'll have to go get it then hm?" he smiled down at the witchling

Briar Rose just smiled, tugging Derek along back towards the classroom and humming "Once Upon A Dream" as she went

Derek laughed, holding her hand gently as he tried to slow her down

 _"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream,"_ he sang

Briar Rose gasped and beamed up at him, apparently not having expected him to know the song

_"I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam,"_

Derek chuckled, swinging their hands carefully as they walked and starting the next verse when a different song started to echo in front of them

_"Oh oh oh oh, try everything, oh oh oh oh,"_

He frowned, glancing up at the new voice and narrowing his eyes

The singing abruptly stopped on both accounts once the two parties came in contact with eachother

"Daryl," Derek greeted quietly, staring across at the Atlanta Five baker who had been on his way down the hall with Judith

"Derek," Daryl grunted back

"Hi Judy," Briar Rose waved

"Hi Briar Rose," Judith smiled back

Things were quiet for a moment before Briar Rose let go of Derek's hand and took a step forward

"I'm gonna go get my jacket,"

"Ok sweetie, I'll be right here," Derek insisted, watching the little girl run back into the music room

"I forgot my tap shoes, can I go get them Uncle Daryl?"

Daryl just grunted his approval, smiling gently at her before nodding and messing up Judith's hair as she giggled and ran off back into the dance room

There was a few moments of awkward silence before Daryl spoke again

"Your kid's name is Briar Rose?" he said with a wrinkled nose

"Your kid's name is Judith?" Derek shot back with a cringe of equal value

For a moment they just stood there, in utter silence, before finally Daryl spoke again

"You know you ain't gonna win right?"

"Oh please, having a bigger bakery doesn't mean you're going to have better product,"

"No, but having a better product means we're going to have a better product,"

Derek wrinkled his nose

"You may think you're better, but we have a secret weapon, so don't get too comfortable thinking you're on top,"

"A secret weapon? Like what? A bomb in a brownie?" he snorted back

"That was hilarious, really, I'm so impressed," Derek said with an eyeroll

Daryl's eye twitched, a retort hanging on his lips, only to be interrupted by Briar Rose as she ran out of the music room and slammed into Derek's leg

"Ready to go Princess?"

"Yep!"

He couldn't help smirking at the other, taking Briar Rose's hand as he heard Judith bounce up the hall and jump to get Daryl's hand as well

Derek gave a small nod, meant to be a parting sign... until he realized that Daryl and Judith were following them, because there was only one exit leading to the parkinglot and they had both been on their way out....

The tension had gone from cool and dramatic to painfully awkward in record time

 

~+~

 

"Aunt Lydia, I thought we were going to the park?"

"We are honey, we're just going to a different park," Lydia explained

"Oh... how come?" Briar Rose asked absently, glancing out the window and tilting her head

"Because Aunt Lydia has someone who she really wants to meet and she should hopefully be at this park,"

"Oh..."

Lydia said no more, smiling at her god daughter and parking the car and turning to look over her shoulder at her

"You don't mind do you Sweetie?"

"Nope! It's ok, I want you to meet your freind," Briar Rose replied with a bright smile

"You are the absolute sweetest," Lydia grinned, hopping out of the car and rounding the back to help Briar Rose out as well

"I'll be over here on this bench ok? You just run along and play,"

"Ok!" she chirped, running off towards the playground and leaving Lydia to herself

Wordlessly, she headed over to the bench and sat down, smoothing out her dress and glancing at the woman next to her, time to enact phase one of her plan

"Hello," she said softly

The woman barely looked up from the book she was reading, giving a nod of consideration

"Hello," she echoed back

Lydia raked a hand through her hair, turning to look at the other woman and offering her hand forward

"I'm Lydia Martin,"

The woman finally put a marker in her book, reaching out to shake her hand

"Michonne Grimes,"

"Ah, Judith's mom?"

Michonne raised an eyebrow, clearly not happy with the revelation

"Why do I feel like that's the lead in to a much bigger question?"

"Well... funny you should ask, I'm Briar Rose's god-mother, I actually came looking to speak with you,"

The other woman seemed fairly displeased with that, a deep frown setting in her features

"I can only assume this has something to do with the bake sale?"

"Yes, but not what you're thinking, I happen to think that this entire... bakery wars concept is utterly ridiculous and needs to be stopped,"

At this, Michonne seemed to relax, a slight grin spreading across her face

"You too huh?"

"GOD yes... I have heard nothing but the words 'Derek', 'bake sale' and 'win' for the last couple of weeks and I swear, if I hear those words one more time I'm going to kill Stiles,"

"The feeling is mutual, Rick has a competitive streak but Daryl just spurs it on and makes it worse, those two are a nightmare together," Michonne chuckled

"So.... what do you say we stop this madness before it gets any worse? You know very well that no matter who wins and who loses, neither of us are ever going to hear the end of it,"

"Right, it'll be either nothing but gloating or nothing but complaining,"

"So you and I are on the same page," Lydia smirked

"We are, but how do you intend to stop this train wreck before it starts?"

"Oh I have my ways, but first, a bit of a question, is there anyone who will be at the bake sale who you might be looking to... set up with someone?"

Michonne stared at her in confusion, eyebrows raised and mouth curving in a smirk

"I don't know where you're going with this, but I like you already,"

 

~+~

 

"Are you excited about today Rosie?"

Briar Rose looked up at her father, beaming excitedly and nodding

"Yep! We're going to sell a bunch of cookies!" she said with a bright smile

"Cookies and lots of other things," Derek agreed with a small smile

The little girl tugged harder on Stiles' hand, pulling him towards the bake sale table set up in the lobby of the center

"I'm coming I'm coming, hold on," Stiles laughed, tossing a slight grin at Derek as he followed his daughter down the hall

"You're too slow," Briar Rose huffed, wrinkling her nose as she tugged

Derek and Stiles just snickered, exchanging looks as they followed the little girl to the table full of sweets

"Need any help getting the other baked goods out of the trunk?"

"I'm good, just get these laid out ok?" Derek shrugged back, setting down the boxes he had carried in on his own

"Set out the sweets AND monitor the munchkin, really Hale?" he huffed teasingly

"Your bake sale, not mine," Derek smirked back, winking at him before heading off again

Stiles just rolled his eyes playfully and started to unload the boxes that Derek had carried in, Laura and Cora were watching the bakery today, luckily, Stiles wasn't sure if he could survive this thing without Derek to talk to and talk smack with

"Stiles?" the witch heard, turning around and lighting up

"Glenn! What are you doing here?"

"Helping with the bake sale, I didn't know you'd be here, who are you supporting?"

"My daughter, Briar Rose," Stiles replied with a small smile

"Ohhhh you're Briar Rose's dad? Really?" Glenn asked in surprise

Stiles' smile fell, wrinkling his nose

"Why do I feel like this isn't about to be good...?"

"O-Oh no no, it's nothing bad! I'm just surprised! I'm one of Judith's god-fathers,"

"Seriously? Wow, what are the odds...?"

"No kidding," Glenn replied brightly

Stiles had to admit, this was a little... confusing.... he had been all gung-ho about helping Briar Rose win and taking down the Atlanta Five but now...

"Wait, so you work at the Atlanta Five?" he asked in surprise

"Yep! You're looking at the brownie master right here," he grinned back

"Oh wow, brownies huh? That'd be Cora's specialty, you're going against a beast," Stiles teased

For some reason this changed things, he still wanted to win his daughter a pizza party but knowing that Glenn was part of the enemy's troop somehow... softened the blow, he didn't feel quite as fired up as before

He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing really...

"Hey guys, c'mere! Have you met Stiles yet?" Glenn called, waving over a small group of people who were making their way to the table, lead by Judith in the front who was practically dragging Rick by the hand

Rick was older, with greyish brown hair and a scruffy beard and a somehow soft look to him underneath the roughness

It wasn't what he expected

"I haven't, I'm Rick," he replied with a single, simple nod

"Stiles," Stiles replied with a soft smile, giving the same nod back

"This is my wife Maggie," Glenn said a moment later, nodding up to a woman with short brown hair and pretty clearly pregnant

"And this is Michonne and Daryl,"

"Hi," Stiles waved, tilting his head at them curiously

"Wow, lots of people, is anyone left still watching the bakery?"

"Yeah, Carol and Carl are both there for the day and we left Abraham, Eugene, and Sasha there in case of emergency too," Glenn shrugged back

"Wow, big family..." Stiles muttered, starting to feel a little jealous that, despite his considerably large group of freinds who he considered to be like family, Derek was the only one there

"Don't sound so disappointed," he heard, turning towards the doors and beaming when he saw his own group starting to file in

"You didn't really think we'd miss Briar Rose's big event did you?" Lydia smirked

"You know, for a second there, I kinda did," he admitted shyly

"Silly rabbit," Lydia said with a teasing roll of her eyes as she stepped towards the table of baked goods, turning on her heel towards the other group and smiling as she made the proper introductions

"Lydia Martin, one of Rosie's god mothers, this is Allison, Scott, Kira, and Malia,"

Admittedly Stiles was relieved to have them there, it made him feel alot less like he was facing the army that seemed to be the Atlanta Five and much more like he was on an even playing feild

He just hoped it stayed that way

 

~+~

 

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Michonne asked an hour into the bake sale

"Positive, Rosie gets hiccups like clockwork, you sure it's going to work with Judith?"

"Yeah, that girl has allergies like I've never seen," she said with a fond shake of her head, though she still felt a little weird about the entire thing, sure she trusted Lydia's plan but it still felt... too easy, and a little manipulative

More than a little honestly

"Just trust me, everything will work out," Lydia smirked, and as if on cue, Briar Rose started hiccuping, drawing the attention of her father away from the box of brownies he was trying to sell and straight to her instead

"Aw Rosie... hiccups again?" he asked worriedly

The little girl sniffed, giving a pout and a slow nod of confirmation

Stiles frowned deeply, chewing his lip, he still hadn't figured out a good cure for hiccups yet and he wasn't exactly the best with healing magic so that didn't help either

He felt trapped, as a parent, not knowing what to do to help his daughter, and then all of a sudden, help came from a most unexpected place

"Here ya' go," he heard, looking up to see Rick Grimes of all people offering Briar Rose what looked like a very literal spoon full of sugar

"She can have sugar right?" he asked a moment later, though it didn't do much good, the girl had already snatched the spoon away with a quick "Thank you!" and popped it in her mouth

"Um.. yeah... how is..-?"

"Sugar stops hiccups, it relaxes the muscles, old wives tale I learned about when Carl was that age," he shrugged back

"And you just... carry granulated sugar around with you...?"

"It's for some of the cupcakes, sprinkle a little fresh over the frosting and they're amazing!" Glenn chimed in from where he was sitting next to Rick

"Daddy they're gone! The hiccups are gone!!" Briar Rose squealed, jumping up and down as she pulled on Stiles' hand

"Seriously? That's great honey!" he grinned, he was going to have to make a mental note about that sugar trick

Turning back to Rick, he offered a small smile of gratitude

"Thanks for that, she would've gone off for like an hour if you hadn't helped,"

"Don't mention it," the older man shrugged back, going back to what Stiles assumed to be cupcakes

Lydia gave a small smirk towards Michonne, nodding her head in Judith's direction

"Just give it a second," the other woman hummed back, barely looking up from the brownies she was stacking as a quiet sneeze came from behind her

The two glanced at eachother, grinning as Judith sneezed again

Michonne hated that she was essentially using her step-daughter like this but it wasn't as if Judith's allergies would've gone dormant anyway, atleast this way she could use an already bad situation for the betterment of society

"You alright kiddo?" Daryl frowned, leaning down closer as the little girl rushed over to cling to Rick's leg

"Allergies again?" Rick frowned, reaching down to gently feel Judith's forehead

"Uh-huh," she sniffled, pouting up at her father sadly

"I have something that could help with that," Stiles chirped, leaning back in his chair and drawing Rick's attention

"You do?"

"Yeah, I have alot of allergies too so I keep these on me," he replied, taking what looked like a little peice of candy out of a bag on the table, handing the little colorfull candy ball to Judith

She took it without so much as a moment of hesitation and popped it in her mouth, grinning from the apparently pleasant taste and humming as she ran over to Daryl to climb into his lap

"What are they exactly?" Rick asked slowly, frowning deeply as he watched his daughter

"Just a little natural antihistamine disguised as candy, you know, like gummy vitamins?"

Rick was obviously still skeptical but when Judith jumped down crying dramatically about how she was cured he was sort of forced to simmer down a little

"...Thanks," he said after a moment

"Yeah, no problem," Stiles smiled back

"Phase one complete," Lydia muttered over her shoulder

"Onto phase two," Michonne agreed

 

~+~

 

"Ohhhh shoot, it looks like I left my cell phone in the car," Lydia said with a loud, dramatic sigh

"Stiles, would you do me a favor and go get it please?" she smiled, dangling her keys in front of him

Stiles glanced up from where he was sitting, shrugging and setting down the stack of quarters he had been sifting through

"Yeah, sure, just tell me where it is,"

"I think it should be in the front seat," Lydia hummed back

Stiles just shrugged again, getting up and heading for the door

"Derek look!" Briar Rose cried excitedly, holding up one of the spare cookies she had decorated

They had decided to let her have the rejects that came out still perfectly good but just misshapen, it was entertaining for everyone involved to let her decorate them

"That looks great Rosie Posey," he smiled brightly, hoping to encourage her artistic skills in any way that he could

"Uncle Daryl look what I did!" Judith shouted, pulling on Daryl's hand as she showed him the page in the coloring book that she had just finished

"Looks great Judy Moody," he smirked back, and Derek could SWEAR he was looking right at him when he said it...

"Oh Derek... I gave Stiles the wrong set of keys, will you go give him the right one please?" Lydia smirked

Derek tilted his head in confusion, but took the keys anyway

This didn't add up, Lydia was never this careless that he knew of.... ofcourse... she DID scheme and plot with the best of 'em....

"Lydia sent you too?" Stiles asked in confusion as soon he saw Derek walking towards him

"Yeah, am I the only one sensing something fishy going on around here?"

"Hell no, I've been picking up on that all day, she's planning something..."

"Question is, what?"

"I'm not sure we'll ever find out, let's just get the keys and go," Stiles sighed, he was supposed to be helping his daughter win a pizza party right now, not getting sent on a wild goose chase for some ulterior motive that he was barely even aware of

Luckily though Derek seemed to agree and they got into Lydia's car with relative ease

"Where are they?" Stiles grunted, searching the driver's side as much as he could, Lydia was never this disorganized, but then again.. plotting.. scheming... things smelled fishier by the second....

"Maybe they're in this box?" Derek suggested, grabbing a box from the passenger's seat and opening the lid

"Huh.." Stiles muttered, staring down at it

"What?"

"Oh um... nothing... it's just... those are the wedding invitations.... God I can't believe Lydia and Allison are already getting married... I've known the two of them since highschool, it just... it feels like just yesterday Allison was the new girl and dating Scott... before you know it Scott and Kira will be getting married..." he explained, his shoulders falling and his voice dropping down to be more quiet and subdued, a little sadder than just nostalgic

"What's wrong?" Derek frowned, clearly picking up on the change of tone

"Nothing.... it's nothing,"

"Stiles, Briar Rose lied better than that when she said she hadn't been in the fingerpaint and yet she had paint all over her dress, come on, it's _me_ ,"

But there was the problem, it was DEREK, and Stiles... he just couldn't talk about this with DEREK...

"Stiles," he pressed gently again

"I just.... it's just one more reminder I don't need of the fact that I'm still single ok? Wich... there's nothing WRONG with being single and I mean, it's sorta self-created since I've got a daughter and... stuff.. don't get me wrong, I would never put Rosie through the process of me dating people, ofcourse I sort of already have feelings for someone so it isn't like it'd be DATING exactly but- ... but I just... it doesn't matter, I'm being ridiculous,"

"You aren't being ridiculous," Derek frowned, setting the box aside and tilting his head

"Why can't you pursue the person you have feelings for?"

"Just... trust me, it isn't in the cards, it's not a good idea,"

"Because of Rosie?" Derek guessed

"No no, he and Rosie actually know eachother and really like eachother already, I just... I'm pretty sure he wouldn't feel the same way, that's all,"

"Why don't you just try asking? It might turn out better than you think, if there's a chance this could work out why not give it a try?"

"Because I don't want to be rejected? I don't want to have my heart broken? Besides, that would be... awkward, at best, if he says no... it'd ruin our freindship, and I ... I just don't want to be rejected, and I don't want Rosie to lose that freindship,"

"How will you ever know if you don't try? Look maybe I can find out for you ok? Who is it? I can fish around for som-"

"That's not going to do any good,"

Derek just frowned, narrowing his eyes at him, why was he being so shady? Stiles was usually open about everything, sometimes to a fault, this wasn't ... this just seemed out of charector for him....

"Stiles.... who is it?"

When Stiles refused to answer him he gave a deep frown, pursing his lips and wrinkling his nose

"Stiles... would yo-"

"It's you," he finally blurted out, lips pressed into a tight line as he stared over at Derek, practically glaring at him

"I'm in love with you, and I know that that's a horrible thing because you're one of the only really good freinds I have and I don't need to be doing all of this romance stuff because of Rosie and I shouldn't be expecting anything of you but I feel like now you know how crushed I'll be if you reject me and I never wanted to put you in that position but if yo-"

He was forced to pause due to the lips on his mouth, Derek's kiss was sweet, innocent, and lingered only for a moment before he pulled away, completely red in the face as he did

"You talk entirely too much, has anyone ever told you that?"

"I um... I'm aware," he squeaked back, coughing quietly and staring back with an equally dark blush

"Stiles... I... I'm in love with you, I have been for... ages, I'm not just saying that because I know you'll be hurt if I reject you either, I really do mean it I just... I'm sorry it took so long to say,"

"I'm in love with you too but why didn't you say anything before?" Stiles frowned, eyebrows pinching together

"Because you have a child, I didn't think you'd be open to dating at all since you're always talking about how she's your only priority and in three years you've never had a significant other, besides you're my customer, how am I supposed to know how much is really being close freinds and how much is just being nice and polite?"

"Oh my God..." Stiles breathed, shaking his head slowly

"And once again we're back to the question: why didn't YOU tell ME?"

"I already told you, I didn't want to be rejected,"

"Neither did I, so you can't really pin this on me,"

Stiles wrinkled his nose, lips twitching slightly, it seemed the L bomb was as hard to bring up as the W bomb

"We have GOT to work on our communication..."

 

~+~

 

"WHERE have you two been?" Malia frowned, glaring at Stiles and Derek as they entered the lobby for the bake sale once again, looking rather disheveled at the time, hair sticking up in all places and skin red and blotched, clothes slightly askew

"Good lord... you two look like you were in a fight with a sack of cats and lost... where were you?" Daryl grumbled from where he was sitting, wrinkling his nose

"Umm... I think I know where they were, and I think you'd know where they were too if you just think about it a little bit..." Glenn said quietly

"We didn't," Derek frowned sourly, although they did make out for what felt like hours...

"Sure you didn't," Michonne smirked

He just pouted, turning slightly red as he sat down at the table and looked over their inventory, there was probably no use trying to convince anyone, he knew they looked guilty as sin

"Wow, we're almost out of everything,"

"We should be, there are only another ten minutes left of the bake sale," Stiles sighed, running his fingers through his hair in some terrible attempt at straightening out the mess

"Ten minutes? Seriously?" Derek frowned

Lydia and Michonne exchanged glances and the red-head sent out a couple of texts under the table

"We look pretty evenly matched so far," Scott observed, glancing over his shoulder at the table across from them where the art class's table was- AKA where the Atlanta Five were sitting

"Yeah but we might not be, they might have had more when they came in," Stiles frowned sourly, glancing up and grinning when he saw that he had a customer standing in front of him

"Hi there!" he grinned, hoping that maybe this guy would give him the lead he needed to win the pizza party for Briar Rose

"This is all you have?" the guy asked, gesturing to the row of treats that were left on the table

Stiles deflated, that wasn't usually how a sale started off...

"Um... yeah, bu-"

"I'll take all of it,"

If Stiles had been looking, he would have seen the coy grin lighting up Lydia's features

"A-All of it?" he breathed

The guy just smiled and nodded, pulling out his wallet

"There's a birthday party at my work and the guy who was supposed to bring cake forgot it so I got tapped in as the substitute,"

"Oh wow, that sucks," Stiles grinned, wich really was a bad idea when he was trying to portray sympathy but you know, you work with what you have and all that

It's just too bad that he was entirely unaware that just the next table over the Atlanta Five was having a similar encounter

"How much more do we have available?" Rick asked as he looked over the treats still left on the table

"Not alot, I think we still have everything we finished this morning," Glenn mused back

"And they're sellin' everything..." Daryl grumbled, looking up from the cash box beside him when he heard someone clear their throat

When he glanced up, he saw a beautifull man with soft sun-kissed brown hair, an even softer beard and shimmering blue eyes smiling down at him

"Jesus..." he breathed

"Well actually my name is Paul but Jesus could work," the man said with a cocky grin

Lydia glanced over at Michonne, exchanging knowing smirks with her before going back to helping Stiles wrap up some cupcakes

 

~+~

 

"I knew my plan would work, both of them sold out, there's no possible way we'll hear boasting OR complaining out of either of them," Lydia said with a smug grin as she watched the two opposing teams start to close down their tables

They were both sold out, seemed to be freindly with eachother, and apparently a few people even walked out of this with a date

Overall it seemed like a win

"You did pretty well.... but you forgot one little thing," Michonne observed

"What?"

"There are other parents entered in the bake sale besides just Rick and Stiles,"

Lydia's face paled, cursing under her breath, she couldn't believe she had forgotten that... HOW could she have forgotten that!?

"But atleast you averted the main part of damage,"

She gave a small nod, not feeling too much better about that at all

"I can't believe we both sold out, it was a good competition though," Stiles said with a soft smile, extending his hand out to Rick

"I agree, good luck to Rosie's class," Rick nodded, taking the other's hand and giving it a firm shake

"And good luck to Judith's too, I hope atleast one of them wins,"

"Thanks, I'd sure hope it would be one of 'em," Rick agreed with a nod

"Daddy! Can Judy come over and play? I wanna show her my Delilah doll!" Briar Rose shouted, tugging on Stiles' sleeve

"You'll have to check with Judy's dad first Sweetpea, but it's ok with me,"

"Fine with me," Rick agreed easily, leaning down to gently ruffle his daughter's hair

"And can Rosie sleep over on Saturday? She's never had crepes for breakfast before!" Judith added, giving Rick her best puppy dog eyes

"We'll see," Rick said with a slight chuckle, grinning slightly at the little girl

"C'mon Judy! I've got something to show you!" Briar Rose cried excitedly, pulling the other little girl towards the bake sale table

"It looks like we'll be seeing alot more of eachother," Stiles said with a slight grin

"Seems that way," Rick agreed with a slight smirk, glancing over his shoulder when he heard the girls giggling

"See!?" Briar Rose squealed, showing off one of the spells she had learned recently as a box of spare frosting tubes started to levitate off of the table

"Briar Rose!" Stiles shouted in horror, hurrying to run over to his daughter

"You know better than to do magic in public," he reprimanded under his breath

"It's ok Daddy, Judy is like Derek and Uncle Scott!" the little girl said proudly

Stiles glanced over at Judith with wide, shocked eyes and then turned back to look at Rick, clearly not believing them

"You mean you're all...?"

"Wolves? Well no, we aren't ALL wolves, but we're definitely something," Maggie clarified with a smirk

"I'm surprised you couldn't tell, after all you've been around werewolves so long, how could you not?" Derek teased

Stiles' eye twitched, wrinkling his nose

"Ok, first of all, I actually knew you guys for a wile, I just MET these people, second of all, you made it pretty obvious what with the various wolf figurines and weird full moon schedules, and THIRD of all, again, WHY didn't you tell me first?"

"I thought you knew,"

"Oh my God! We have GOT to start communicating!"

Derek was quiet for a moment, shrugging slightly

"Well, you're right about the communicating," he finally relented

Stiles just sighed, shaking his head slowly in frustration

"So all of this time... all this rivalry between you two... was it REALLY about baking? Or was it just two wolf packs trying to show eachother up?"

"Both, mostly the second one," Daryl confessed nonchalantly

Stiles just stared straight ahead, dragging his hands over his face and rolling his eyes

"Freaking werewolves..."

He was still keeping that sentiment a year later when Straight From Hale and the Atlanta Five met up on full moons- running for the wolves, picnics for the non-wolves, the two had become surprisingly close thanks in no small part to the fact that Briar Rose and Judith had become best freinds, as with most parents they learned to get along for their kids but luckily it wasn't quite as hard as they had first imagined it would be

Stiles became the unofficial cookie baker, lending his talents a couple of times a week and on special occasions- and just as the Hale siblings had hoped, their shop stayed solely in the family, what with his marrying into the Hale name barely a year after the bake sale that started it all

The bakeries, instead of trying to keep an iron grip on their customers, started sharing customers instead and the Atlanta Five even shared their advertising agents with the Hales

Derek and Daryl begrudgingly ended their rivalry after sharing the mutual embarrassment of walking tiny dogs dressed in pink coats down the same street one weekend (neither offered an explanation and neither asked)

Briar Rose and Judy both started sharing in the excitement of soon becoming big sisters

And finally, Daryl experienced exactly how frustrating it is to not communicate with your partner when his boyfreind Jesus casually mentioned that his foster family is a clan of vampires over dinner one night

They had to learn to live with that too, eventually

(And yes, Daryl is sorry he ever started that trend of calling Paul "Jesus", the novelty of that wore off REAL quick)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so tired of this bakery wars theme you guys but I still have ideas for it?? I could probably write three more right now just about the weirdness that goes on when you have these two casts together baking stuff and thangs and having babies? I mean? Ok, well, I'm going to cleanse my writing palette with something short but hey if you guys are interested in a sequel- probably about Stiles being frustrated with one of my personal writing woes, getting help from advertiser Abraham (yes! That's who Team Family's ad rep is!) and something going horribly wrong with birthday party invitations, let me know down in the comments, I already committed to continuing a few other fics but let's be really honest I'd probably prefer to vent-write on this one than continue the others right now so, as long as you guys know I've got a few other fics I'm doing first then we're cool
> 
> !!ALSO!! If you want to know why Stiles' daughter is named Briar Rose it's to mirror Judith's, in a way, Judith is a very old, very simple name that alot of people have, Briar Rose is so outlandishly unique that probably no one else has it, plus I always wanted the scene with Daryl and Derek meeting up singing Disney songs and since Judy Hopps is part of Zootopia I wanted Stiles' daughter to have a name of one of the older Disney princesses to, again, parallel Judith, I almost went with Ariel but that name, I think, would have been too common for Daryl to pick at, it had to be something that someone who's used to simple names (I mean come on, Michonne is like the only unique name in Team Family) would find bizzare, just as someone like Derek, who is probably used to stranger names (I mean Stiles, for one thing) would probably find Judith a little out there, so that's why I did it and probably made this alot cornier than it could have been if I had just named her Jane or something


End file.
